INNOVATION is a core principle

Making Life Easy With Smarthub

Life is hectic. I get it. There’s always something else to add to the to-do list! In the hustle and bustle of life, who wouldn’t appreciate a bit more convenience? Here at URE, we know that your time is valuable, and we want to be there with convenient o erings when you need us.

Lately, my messages have focused on rate studies, financial forecasts, and other tools we use to manage the business of your cooperative. We’re also using continuous improvement principles as we look for ways to improve our systems — both internal and those we use when working with members like you.

In June, we worked with the team at National Information Solutions Cooperative (NISC), our business software provider. With their help, we were able to quickly make a few simple improvements to how we use their software in our day-to-day work. We also found a couple of more significant improvements in how we notify members of events.

Using SmartHub, which is our web payment platform and mobile app, members already have the option to receive emails and/or text messages for notifications such as outage alerts, outage restoration, and when your monthly bill is ready to be viewed. We also use SmartHub to supplement our annual meeting invitations and to run the annual meeting video contest.

You can also use your SmartHub account to take part in our “enter to win” contests. URE is a community event sponsor for many local events, and we purchase tickets to give away to our members. Last month, members had a chance to win All Ohio Balloonfest tickets!

Anthony Smith CEO/PRESIDENT

Many of our members already use SmartHub to keep up to date. But we are always looking to improve the available services within SmartHub. I also want to be clear that we understand the value of your attention, so we would never want to jeopardize it by needlessly overusing the notifications. You always have control over which types of notifications you receive.

Looking to the future, we will be exploring opportunities to notify participating SmartHub members of activities in their account, such as account/service transfers, autopay draft date reminders, approaching credit card expiration dates, and permanent service activations. The goal of these new features is to make getting information from URE just a little easier.

We have always promoted SmartHub’s convenient payment, service request, and usage monitoring features. And don’t forget that you can sign up for paperless billing in SmartHub — a service that is not only good for the environment but also helps us to keep costs down. As an ongoing thank-you to our paperless billed members, we are planning a monthly drawing in SmartHub for two $25 billing credits.

So, here’s another to-do item: Make sure to log in to SmartHub at ure.com/smarthub and sign up for paperless billing.

If you have any questions, you can still call our friendly member service representatives at 937-642-1826, or send us an email at services@ure.com. We want to be easy to reach, and we want you to be able to easily access the information you need, because we’re YOUR electric cooperative.

The front door of your home has a lot of meaning. It sets the stage for the home and provides the first impression for your guests. Beyond curb appeal, the front door is a good place to look for energy savings.

Efficient exterior doors seal tightly and don’t allow air to pass through. Limiting airflow from exterior doors can lower heating and cooling costs. Throughout the years, the construction of exterior doors has improved to increase their efficiency. If your door is older, it likely is not insulated.

There are two strategies to address an inefficient front door: purchase a new one or work with what you have.

If you want to replace your front door for aesthetic purposes, make it more functional, or improve its efficiency, consider upgrading to an ENERGY STARcertified model. The ENERGY STAR certification ensures the door you buy meets efficiency criteria for your local area. Certification requires any windows in the door to be double- or triple-paned to reduce heat flow. While windows in doors offer aesthetics, more glass means less efficiency. The bigger the windows in a door, the lower the efficiency. The most efficient doors have no glass or windows.

U-factor is the primary rating for efficiency on doors and windows. U-factor is the inverse of R-value, which is the rating used for insulation. Unlike R-value where higher is better, the lower the U-factor, the more energy-efficient the door. Check the U-factor to help choose the most efficient door in your preferred style.

ENERGY STAR-certified doors are made of the most efficient materials, such as fiberglass, wood cladding, and steel with polyurethane foam core. They are built to fit snugly into their frames, reducing drafts and airflow.

When completely replacing a door and the frame, you can use expanding foam or caulk to fill the space between the door jamb and structural framing. ENERGY STAR doors have specific installation instructions to ensure the desired efficiency.

If a new door isn’t in your budget, less expensive options can reduce air leakage and improve your home’s efficiency.

Years of use can wear out weatherstripping. If you can see daylight around the edges of the door or underneath it, it’s time to stop those air leaks.

Weatherstripping around the door jamb can be adjusted to make a snug seal or replaced if it’s too far gone. Apply one continuous strip along each side, and make sure it meets tightly at the corners. Don’t forget the door sweep at the bottom of the door.

Adding a storm door can also help. Most storm doors have options for using a screen or glass. Swapping the screen for the glass insert can help save energy in both the winter and in the summer, if you use air conditioning.

Open the door to energy savings by improving the efficiency of your exterior doors, without compromising the aesthetics of your home.